What therapeutic approach is focused on unconscious motives and conflicts?

The correct answer is the therapeutic approach known as psychoanalysis. This approach, founded by Sigmund Freud, emphasizes the importance of unconscious processes and conflicts in shaping behavior and personality. It posits that much of human behavior is influenced by thoughts, memories, and desires that lie below the level of conscious awareness. Psychoanalysis seeks to bring these unconscious factors to the surface through techniques such as free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of transference. By addressing these underlying issues, individuals can gain insight into their feelings and behaviors, leading to personal growth and symptom relief.

In contrast, behavioral therapy primarily focuses on altering specific behaviors through reinforcement and conditioning techniques, without delving into unconscious motives. Cognitive therapy emphasizes changing maladaptive thought patterns to improve emotional responses, while systematic desensitization is a specific behavioral technique used to treat phobias by gradually exposing individuals to the fear-inducing stimuli. These approaches do not inherently involve exploring the unconscious mind in the way that psychoanalysis does.